La La Land Leads the Critics’ Choice Awards, but Hacksaw Ridge Is the Real Surprise

The Critics’ Choice Awards, the largest of the many critics awards handed out for film and the only ceremony that is televised, have announced their nominees for this year’s awards, which will air December 11 on A&E. Several of the year’s major critical darlings were well represented among the nominees, including Moonlight, which earlier this week took home several Gotham Awards and prompted us to dub it the “new Oscar front-runner.” It now has some competition, though, in La La Land, another critical and festival darling that scored 12 Critics’ Choice nominations, more than any other film, including key categories like best picture, best director, best actor, and best actress.

The real surprise here, however, goes to Hacksaw Ridge, the World War II drama directed by Mel Gibson. The film picked up seven nominations, including for best picture, best director, and best actor. Gibson, it would seem, might actually have a comeback on his hands.

Another surprise is Hell or High Water, which picked up six nominations. The critically acclaimed western has quietly been picking up steam in the last few months. Both Jeff Bridges and Ben Foster were nominated for best supporting actor, and the film was nominated for best picture.

Though Oscar night is still several months away, the buzz will start to pick up fast and furious in the coming days; critics groups in New York, Los Angeles, and elsewhere will announce their own winners in the coming days, and on December 12 come the Golden Globe nominations. None of these are indications of how actual Oscar voters think—the overlap between critics groups, Golden Globes voters, and Academy members is minuscule—but all contribute to the ever-important sense of “buzz.” The more you can be seen accepting an award, the thinking goes, the more likely you are to accept the big one at the end of February.

See the key list of nominees below, and tune in to see who wins at eight P.M. on December 11 on A&E.

Best Picture

Arrival

Fences

Hacksaw Ridge

Hell or High Water

La La Land

Lion

Loving

Manchester by the Sea

Moonlight

Sully

Best Director

Damien Chazelle — La La Land

Mel Gibson — Hacksaw Ridge

Barry Jenkins — Moonlight*

Kenneth Lonergan — Manchester by the Sea

David Mackenzie — Hell or High Water

Denis Villeneuve — Arrival

Denzel Washington — Fences

Best Actor

Casey Affleck — Manchester by the Sea

Joel Edgerton — Loving

Andrew Garfield — Hacksaw Ridge

Ryan Gosling — La La Land

Tom Hanks — Sully

Denzel Washington — Fences

Best Actress

Amy Adams — Arrival

Annette Bening — 20th Century Women

Isabelle Huppert — Elle

Ruth Negga — Loving

Natalie Portman — Jackie

Emma Stone — La La Land

Best Supporting Actor

Mahershala Ali — Moonlight

Jeff Bridges — Hell or High Water

Ben Foster — Hell or High Water

Lucas Hedges — Manchester by the Sea

Dev Patel — Lion

Michael Shannon — Nocturnal Animals

Best Supporting Actress

Viola Davis — Fences

Greta Gerwig — 20th Century Women

Naomie Harris — Moonlight

Nicole Kidman — Lion

Janelle Monáe — Hidden Figures

Michelle Williams — Manchester by the Sea

Best Young Actor/Actress

Lucas Hedges — Manchester by the Sea

Alex R. Hibbert — Moonlight

Lewis MacDougall — A Monster Calls

Madina Nalwanga — Queen of Katwe

Sunny Pawar — Lion

Hailee Steinfeld — The Edge of Seventeen

Best Adapted Screenplay

Luke Davies — Lion

Tom Ford — Nocturnal Animals

Eric Heisserer — Arrival

Todd Komarnicki — Sully

Allison Schroeder, Theodore Melfi — Hidden Figures

August Wilson — Fences

Best Original Screenplay

Damien Chazelle — La La Land

Barry Jenkins — Moonlight

Yorgos Lanthimos/Efthimis Filippou — The Lobster

Kenneth Lonergan — Manchester by the Sea

Jeff Nichols — Loving

Taylor Sheridan — Hell or High Water

Best Cinematography

Arrival — Bradford Young

Jackie —Stéphane Fontaine

La La Land —Linus Sandgren

Moonlight —James Laxton

Nocturnal Animals —Seamus McGarvey

Best Foreign Language Film

Elle

The Handmaiden

Julieta

Neruda

The Salesman

Toni Erdmann

Best Acting Ensemble

Fences

Hell or High Water

Hidden Figures

Manchester by the Sea

Moonlight

20th Century Women

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BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Arrival — Patrice Vermette, Paul Hotte/André Valade

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them – Stuart Craig/James Hambidge, Anna Pinnock